Rivalry: the truth behind the scenes
by Strife-07
Summary: Are you sure Mitsui and Akagi's rivalry just stays under the subject of basketball? Better think twice. YAOI. Kogure? May be predictable, but hey people, it falls under the humor category. It's meant to be for fun. xD
1. Mitsui's View

**Rivalry: The truth behind the scenes**

**Strife**: Yes! I've finally posted a fanfic! After weeks of begging my dear co-author to finish her parts, it's finally here! By the way, this fic is co-authored by **'Saicho-18 the great'** and if ever you see some weird pairings, Kami-sama, it's all her doing. I, Strife-07, is not responsible for those unlikely pairings. Blame Saicho for her keen observations and strange imagination. About the fic itself, well, have you ever wondered what the characters really are thinking? And I'm not talking about basketball, mind you. I mean, fluffily (is that a word? We fanfic writers really have a tendency to come up with weird jargons) and romantically. Have you ever wondered whether Mitsui and Akagi's rivalry extended to some point far from basketball? (Warning: Might be a lot OOC)

Feel free to drop a comment, review or even grammar-related suggestions if you wish to do so. Anything would be fine. We won't even be mad if you'd flame this fic. We're really open-minded persons. Really. Really, we are. Honestly. Er, you do believe us, don't you? Don't you?!

**Disclaimer**: If we owned Slam Dunk, Sakuragi would be dyed blonde, Rukawa would've smiled in a normal basis, Miyagi would be 3 inches taller, Mitsui would've been the team captain, Haruko wouldn't be the squealing girly-type, Akagi would look like Haruko even the slightest bit (what? They are siblings after all…) and Kogure would be snogging Strife by now. Got it?

**Mitsui's views**

I watched in awe as the epitome of a man walked into the gym. I even stopped dribbling the ball just to take a good look at him… the man of every hour of my life… 

Kiminobu Kogure.

I furiously wipe off the beads sweat rolling carelessly down my face, not caring if I dropped out of the middle of a one-on-one with Sakuragi.

This caused the so-called 'tensai' to go on a parade of curses. I ignored the bigmouth. Nothing much mattered to me anymore except that _he_ was finally there. My beautiful angel amongst a herd of smelly-looking basketball players (sans me of course as I, for one, am not that bad-looking). My vast ray of sunshine. My sudden inspiration through all. My dearest Kogure.

He glanced my way and I felt my heart-beating raise by a notch. Perspiration soaked my practice jersey. Funny how he can make me react like this by just looking at me. 

He smiled and I almost fainted in delight. I guess I had this goofy smile on my face because he looked at me weirdly and looked away.

Of course, there was absolutely nothing special about that particular smile. I mean, come on, this Kogure we _are_ talking about; the guy who gives out smiles as much as Sakuragi calls himself a genius. And that's saying something.

He then came to watch Sakuragi, who by the way had left me alone long time ago, failed miserably to block a slam dunk from his new found playmate- Rukawa. The 'tensai' went on another one of his parades of how much he was much, _much_ better, how he was a genius and when he suddenly lost his balance, he said that he just did it on purpose because he wanted to give everyone a good laugh because we all look so stiff. Really.

Surprisingly, the loud-mouthed red-haired freak is actually very good at this game, and considering that he never _actually _played basketball his whole life before . . . well, that's just amazing.

My silent admiration for Sakuragi was soon destroyed by the sounds of curses coming from his mouth. Boy, he sure did have an extensive knowledge on curses.

I sweat dropped as I saw one butt-ugly gorilla walk towards the rampaging fool.

Predictably, a conk on the head was earned by the genius. That shut him up. Well, from experiences' sake, that was very well earned, and of course, we all knew that the silence would not last long.

He was about to open his mouth when the great coach Anzai strolled in and boomed, 

"Practice game! Pick your own teams!" 

And then he sat down on his usual chair with Ayako at his side.

Miyagi stood up from the bench that he was sitting on and walked towards the court and started teasing Sakuragi.

Hmmm . . . teams, wonder which one I should choose. Yellow perhaps . . .

On second thought, I just saw a Akagi throw on a yellow shirt so scratch that. Red it is then. I mean, how could I possibly impress Kogure and make Akagi look bad if we are on the same team? I know that the big lug has the hots for Kogure, and surprisingly I don't blame him, but I still have this sort of thirst for something. Something that I don't know what. Revenge maybe? All I know is that I can't and would not accept it if Gory will have Kogure. I will just die. Figuratively and literally. 

What the?! Kogure chose the yellow team?! He picked Akagi's team over mine? How could he? I mean, just look at his teammates for goodness' sake; a gorilla, a self-proclaimed genius and two benchwarmers. 

I, on the other hand, have the great Rookie, my newfound chum Miyagi and also two benchwarmers. Ok, so it's not that great, but it _is_ better, don't you think?

I wonder if I could avoid Kogure the rest of the game and still surmount Akagi . . . I'll try that, I guess.

Ayako whistled and so the game began.

My eyes kept unconsciously darting to where Kogure was playing.

Funny, his cheeks seemed to be burning. If I didn't know better, I'd say that he was all flushed.

Now that was just impossible, wasn't it? I mean, this _is _Kogure we are talking about and well -- 

Oh. My. God. I think he just looked at me . . . gosh . . . this like a dream come true . . .

I looked at him again and he readjusted his glasses. The damn thing that was moving inside my stomach felt like it just it turned into a snake. A huge one.

His movements were stiffed, almost as if his mind was somewhere else. The longer I stared at him, the more I felt my cheeks redden. Weird, this has to be the first time I blushed this much. 

He worked the court, running back and forth, but never, not once, touched the ball. I just had to wonder why.

His eyes were actually glazed over, the passion that I have once seen- the same one that had convinced me to play basketball once again- was gone. And the weird thing was, it was as if he wasn't paying much attention to he game. So very unlikely of him. 

Sakuragi now had the ball but Rukawa quickly stole it from him. We ran back to our side of the court, me waiting for an emergency or something. I fell back behind and lost sight of them because it was at that exact time for Akagi to guard me, therefore blocking my view. He was towering over me and was glaring, not that I care of course. The only thing that irritates me is that the apple of my eye was right behind him. Damn this gorilla and his size! Figures that he was too big for my height that I can't even see!

The next thing I heard was the crowd cheering and that gorilla in front of me was running once again towards their end of the court, along with his teammates and mine.

I looked at the score table and saw that we had gained two points. That Rukawa was sure a good asset.

Sakuragi now had the ball, courtesy of Akagi. I just noticed that Kogure was nowhere to be found. I stopped in my tracks and looked for him.

I found him at the back and the sight shocked me literally. His eyes were wide and the red tint that was staining his cheeks was now steadily spreading.

Then, his beautiful lips broke into a beautiful smile, and he has this look on his face . . .

And it wasn't just any look, but _the_ look; the same one I'm sure I have on my face every time I look at him.

Oh my dearest Kami-sama . . . my Kiminobu Kogure was indeed fallen to the infamous feeling of love . . .

I turned my head to look at where and who exactly he was looking at.

God, this can't be happening.

BLAG!


	2. Akagi's Contemplations

**Rivalry: the truth behind the scenes**

**Strife:** Hi there again! And so, we move on to the second chappie! This fic will only be three chapters long so…there'll  be…hmm…*counts her fingers and did the math* Er…well… Ah, yes! One more chapter to go folks! Please, if ever this fic doesn't measure up to your expectations, don't get angry at us. We're only here to share our ideas. Isn't sharing a good thing? Of course it is. So be good little readers and don't tell us nasty things, okay? After all, it's not our fault that these people turn out that way. Okay, so maybe it is our fault for we're the ones who made this fic. But really, what we're only doing is to broaden the interesting little pieces we observed while watching the show (told you we're keen observers). Oh, and please review! Admit it. We writers are a tad bit hungry for those. ^_^ (Warning: A lot OOC)

**Disclaimer: **If ever we owned Slam Dunk, the players would actually be straight men and Strife would've had Kogure in bed this instant. ^_^****

**Akagi's contemplations**

I sighed as I took a seat down the benches at one side of the court.

No one's here yet . . . figures. I suppose I came to the gym a little bit too early. 

Thirty minutes early to be precise.

I quickly changed into my practice jersey and did drills around the court. I figured that I looked like an idiot, playing and running around the court by my lone and handsome self, but as a team captain, that was just one of those sacrifices that had to be made.

Yeah, right. Team captain my foot. 

We all know the actual reason why I always go to the gym early. I was hoping to find Kogure in here early and play a one-on-one with him, therefore at least having some time alone with him _as a friend_. 

Pathetic as it may sound, I know where exactly I stand. A friend. And I am content being just that. For now, anyway. 

But when I get the courage to do so, I sure will sweep him off his feet.

Now if only some certain denture-wearing gangsta dork would back off _my_ property, I'd be perfectly fine…

I did my warm-ups, stretching and stuff, got the ball, and then worked my way around the court. I must have looked stupid, playing alone, and pretending that I was kicking a certain greasy haired freak's ass in this game. Three guesses who that is.

After twenty minutes of dribbling, faking, and jumping by myself, I was already sweaty and panting. I took my water bottle and then took a seat at the bench once again.

And then I relaxed.

I must have dozed off since the next thing I heard was the bustling and squeaking of shoes on the gym floor. But the sound that woke me up was Sakuragi's voice calling himself a genius.

I sat up right and watched the scene. The carrot-topped annoyance was boasting of something about giving them all good laugh because they were being stiff.

Whatever it was, his smug face is as sure as hell irritating me.

I stood up and walked over there, his back was turned to me so obviously, his guard was down.

His mouth was now shooting a blast of curses and I felt a vein pop in my temple.

Why does he always have to make me do this?

I conked him on the head, hard. 

He clutched his head and crouched down. Served him right for having an ego the size of Japan. Well, at least he's quiet now, though I know very well that oh, the precious silence would not last long. 

It was then that I saw, or rather, noticed the people around us. There was the super rookie, Rukawa, the big headed greasy haired freak, Mitsui, and of course, the very rude Sakuragi.

I turned my head, scanning the gym silently with my eyes. 

_Where could he be?_

And then I noticed him, just standing there and looking at our little group. It took every bit of me not to sigh and ogle at his presence. My beloved Kogure. If only you'd be mine…

Sakuragi immediately stood up and opened his mouth when the coach sauntered in the gym doors.

"Practice game! Pick your own teams!" he said loudly (as usual) and then proceeded to his usual seat, face unmoving and impassive (as usual) and Ayako (as usual) ran up to take her (usual) place at his side.

Just then, I noticed Miyagi stand up from one of the benches and walked towards us . . . and then started teasing Sakuragi.

It really was, truly, astonishing to find Miyagi back on the team. Not that I'm ungrateful or anything but, it really was one hell of a shock to find him alive and in one piece after all of those gang fights.

The guy was great in basketball, absolutely no doubt about it, but you got to admit, he was a fool when it comes to love. Too bad Ayako doesn't want to get 'involved' right now. Wonder why though, it's not like Miyagi's got dentures or something.

Speaking of dentures, I now see the egotistical three-pointer hovering over there contemplating which team he should choose.

Like there's a contest. Of course yellow is the team for me; and I show everybody just that as I throw a benchwarmer a yellow shirt and wear one myself.

I look over to Kogure and almost jumped in delight as I see him putting on a yellow shirt himself.

My eyes flickered over to Mitsui's face and the stupid looking frown that was spread on his ugly mug brought a feeling of something very close to triumph.

I smirked unconsciously. Boy, this was too good to be true . . . I'll ship Mitsui's ass in this game. I know that he has the hots for Kogure . . . and I won't let him get the person I love in this earth. 

One whistle sounded and the game began.

I played the game smoothly, if I may say so myself. Even with my teammates (Sakuragi, Kogure and two benchwarmers), I played the game well.

Just too bad, if Rukawa was on my team, we would be unstoppable. But alas, it was not meant to be. It was just a practice game, anyway.

I looked at Kogure and saw him smiling at Mitsui. I almost dropped the ball and trip. As a safety measure, I passed the ball to Sakuragi and kept watching them.

Kogure has already resumed playing but Mitsui stood still. A goofy grin and all on his face. 

This was it. He was _so_ going to pay. 

I saw in the corner of my eyes that Rukawa stole the ball from Sakuragi, and ran towards their end of the court. Damn. 

I run towards Mitsui, who fell back behind for some reason, and decided to guard him. I glared at him and his stupid blushing face. What a shallow guy.

He was in front of me, with the ball behind me, but he ignored my glares on account of the fact that he was looking --straining, actually-- at something behind me. Tough, 'cause I am way taller than he is.

The crowds cheered and I knew that their team scored a point.

I left Mitsui's front with a grunt and ran towards our end of the court, with my team mates behind me. 

I looked back to where Kogure was playing --standing-- when I felt the ball was suddenly passed into my not awaiting hand. I looked at where exactly it came from and surprises of surprises; it was from Sakuragi, who had a mawkish grin in his face.

I looked back again to Mitsui's place and noticed that he was just standing there, with his face reflecting the one that was petrified. You know where one person has his jaw hanging on the floor? I threw the ball back to Sakuragi 

Yeah, and I looked at where he was looking and all I saw was Kogure; Kogure wearing a very attractive shade of red on his cheeks. His face in a beautiful smile. 

I turned to look at where he was looking and that's when I knew things would never be the same again.

BLAG!


	3. Kogure's Choice

Rivalry: the truth behind the scenes

**Strife:** And so this fic ends. We do hope you had fun reading it as much we did writing it. Actually, it really pained me to make a Kogure-yaoi fic but what can I do, it was really what we perceived through the constant watching of the series. It was all the creator's fault for dropping such hints. Of course, who are we to ignore such blatant indications? ^_^  Review, good readers! We badly need it! Thanks for sharing this little fic with us!

(Warning: Hoo boy! Incredible OOCness, full speed ahead!!!) And now, Kogure decides who he really loves. No, sadly, it's not me. Try guessing who he chooses before the fic ends. Remember: Sometimes, things aren't always what they may seem…

**Disclaimer:** It's not ours as apparently, Takehiko Inoue refuses to let go of his brilliant characters. No, not even Kogure-my-love *sniffs sadly*. Now, it really makes us wonder: Is the creator really straight? ^_^0

**__**

Kogure's Choice 

There he is. Like an angel about to take flight, he sprinted high across the air and executed a perfect slam-dunk. He's been always a crowd favorite. Who else bears that strong, powerful aura… enough to make anybody stare in awe? Nobody except him, I guess. With his deep set of eyes and brooding persona, he looked like a vision of a deity who descended from heaven just to fulfill a mortal's dreams. My dreams.

What the hell?! What have I just said?!?

I must be going crazy. That's the only possible explanation why that thought popped into my head. Or maybe I'm just stressed with all the practice games and school stuff. Yeah, that must be it.

Back to reality, he did another slam-dunk. A series of oohs and aahs followed which is absolutely well deserved, if I may say. But wait, what the hell is this feeling that's eating up my insides? It certainly can't be envy for I've always been an active cheerer of every player, no matter who's playing. Then for my own sake, what is it?

Was it worry? Possibly, but of what? That he'll pay less and less attention to me, now that his number of fans grow daily at an incredible rate? Damn it, this is getting out of hand. Maybe I should take an aspirin. Or two. Now.

For some reason, my blurry eyesight sensed something. Something quite delusional, I know, but—Did he, er, just steal a glance at me? I'm sure I saw his eyes flicker into my direction. 

Or had I just imagined it? 

What the hell, forget the couple of tablets. I need the whole damned bottle.

Hah! Listen to myself thinking about a whole string of curses. If my team mates ever hears m like this, no doubt they'll look at me like I've sprouted horns. And oh, what would _he_ think?

Would he be turned off? I do hope not.

Er, okay Kogure. You will stop this foolish reflecting. You will no longer ponder over senseless ideas because that's just what they are: senseless.

"Practice game! Pick your own teams!" boomed Coach Anzai's voice.

Ah, yes. A practice game. Coach Anzai, I will forever be in debt to you for saving me from myself along with my stupid thoughts. Hail Coach Anzai.

Oh well, I do hope this game would really _fire _me up (no, not _that_ way), enough to keep my hazy brain off from thoughts of, um, thoughts of that crazy topic.

Wait a minute. For a split second, I felt his eyes on me. 

Again. 

And again. 

This is bad. Now, I'm beginning to hallucinate and conjure up things. Next thing I know, I'll be lap dancing at the center of the basketball court. Definitely not a good mental image.

_Focus in the game, dimwit. Quick, choose a team._

Hmm… Which team should I choose? Red or Yellow? With all these wanton things going inside my now-mentally-challenged head, the last thing I want is to match the color of my face with the color of the shirt I'm wearing if ever I'd embarrass myself. Especially now that I can't get myself to concentrate. So yellow it is. 

Oh, I see he's in the other team, ne? Well, I'm not gonna back down just because I've got a very peculiar event going on inside my stomach whenever he's about, I don't know, 30 inches away? Never mind. I'm here to play, to practice. Not to discuss points of strangeness.

But the way my insides twist into knots, there must be something going on. These things in my stomach that were making me feel queasy, are they what people usually call… butterflies? 

God, I really must be losing it.

I could be getting the flu. What I was feeling remarkably resembled the early stages of that illness. Churning insides, liquid knees, that sort of thing.

Or maybe, just maybe, it could be that I, Kogure Kiminobu, was actually, finally, of all people, be falling in love…

My heart, surprisingly, swelled at the thought. _Kogure no baka, that's so impossible. Stop thinking about him, the game's about to start._

Ayako whistled and the game was on. I suddenly found myself acting like an android. You know, programmed moves and all? Because all the while we were playing, running around the court, shooting baskets, I was staring at him. Only him.

_No! I musn't be doing that!_

But then, it was his eyes that always fascinated me. He was the only person I knew that had such intense ones. His pair's intensity grows even stronger when he plays hard. I continued gazing in his eyes' depths until… 

I noticed he was staring back at me.

He. Stared. Back. 

Oh, God.

Alarm filled my soggy brain as my completely silent expression screamed CAUGHT! It was just like the way ambulances blare their sirens when it was an absolute emergency. 

This IS an emergency. 

_Damn, I'm going to die…_

I half expected him to turn away in annoyance. After all, the way I stared at him like a lovesick puppy was enough to make anyone gag. Yet, miracle of all miracles, the left part of his lips curled upwards, vaguely resembling a smile. 

I stood there, shocked, rooted to that spot.

BLAG.

Ugh, that definitely hurt. A ball just smacked the back of my head. Serves me right, the way I wasn't paying much attention to the game. Though humiliated, I managed to just laugh a bit and shrug the whole thing off. I even had the summoned courage to take a risk at glancing at him. The next thing that happened though was what completely blew me away.

He was looking at me, alright. But what amazed me was the way his eyes seemingly reflected passion, or so I thought. It was almost as if he was… concerned. I violently shook my head. 

_I'm going to have my eyes checked to see if I'm going to need new glasses. Thicker ones._ Or maybe I have to get my mind checked also. My ideas are getting crazier by the minute.

"Don't worry. I'm fine, captain!" I managed. "Pass me the ball, quick!"

And he did. Dribbling carefully on the way to the inner court, I suddenly found myself face to face with _him._ It looks as if he decided to be the one who'll block my way to the basket. With him just a few centimeters away from me, his incredibly sweet scent filled my nostrils. It was literally intoxicating me, in an oddly good way. The awkward closeness between us made me panic, however.

Bad move. Panicking soon led to clumsiness that I miscalculated my step, tripped over my own foot, onto… him. I guess it was so sudden, for he also lost his balance and toppled backward. Before I knew what had happened, we ended up on the floor being a pile of tangled arms and legs with me on top of him.

I gasped for breath as I noticed that my body rested against his. My heart was pounding, and I felt paralyzed. It was as if we were the only people in the gym. All I could do for the first split second was stare into his amazingly intense eyes, which were mere inches from mine.

I assumed he'd scowl and call me stupid, just like what he call everyone else. But then, his beautiful lips broke into a beautiful smile I've never seen before. _A smile intended for me, _I realized.

As our gaze locked, he ever so gently touched my face with his hand and brought my trembling lips to meet his. I couldn't resist, and I realized that I didn't really want to. It suddenly dawned on to me that I've wanted him for a long time now. I let myself get lost in that wonderful feeling, the feeling I've been refusing to admit.

Pulling apart, he smiled once again and pulled my head down so his mouth moved closer to my ears. "I love you, Kogure. I hope you feel the same way that I do…" he softly whispered. With that, it was my turn to answer him with a smile. Unmindful of whatever reactions our other teammates had on their faces, we melted into each other's embrace.

How could I be so blind to my own feelings? All this time, I've been hiding what I truly felt for him, denying the real connection I had with him, not knowing that I may have absently given him my heart long before I realized it. Well, it's still not too late to make up for the lost moments. And this time, I'm ready to admit it to the whole world. 

Yes, without a doubt, there are no two ways about it.

_I love Rukawa._


End file.
